Wish you were here........Greetings from Leicester. I was just writing a rather dismal postcard to my friend that featured some extemely boring and pointless photos of various points of disputable interest in Leicester and I figured that I could easily make an equally dismal but slightly more entertaining postcard to send her instead. So here are my efforts. For those who have never had the pleasure of visiting this wonderous city a short explaination of the sights;
Top left; Leicester Market, europes largest allegedly, with it's array of furry material.
Top right; A sign displaying that air pollution is particularly bad and advising drivers to use the Park and Ride scheme, which is a clever idea thought up by Leicester city council where drivers can drive all the way out of town, drop off there cars, then get a bus into town, then out of town again, where they can pick up there cars and drive home, this is to cut down on the amount of cars on the road!?! The Park and Ride car parks are often built over places of outstanding natural beauty, green belt land and so on, those bright sparks at the council are really on the ball when it comes to green matters!?!?!?!
Bottom Left; Leicester Prison home to many famous criminals over the years including The Krays and McVicar. It's actually one of the nicer buildings of Leicester as most the historical buildings were pulled down in the 60's and modernised. I used to think, as a child that it was a real castle, only to find out when a friend of ours went to live there that it wasn't.
Bottom Right; The Elephant Man, leicester's most famous son aside from Englebert Humperdink
(but even Englebert hasn't had a film made about him.) When the' famous people' conversation arises there are these two and the whole of Leicester's favourite, Daniel Lambert who was famous for being fat, you can sit on his chair in the museum and it's so big it made my friend pee herself in fear, but no one outside of Leicester has ever heard of him so he isn't really famous. But, the elephant man is another matter and although back in his day he was taunted and beaten and hunted down like a wild animal, today the people of Leicester have taken him to there hearts and have staked their claim on him as there very own. And proud we are too!
So there you go, thats my tour of the sights and sounds of Leicester, my home for 27 years, can't you tell that I just love it here!
PS. Please excuse the sarcasm, I've been terribly bored and bitterly cold all day (not to mention the fact it's Monday) and it brings out cynicism in me.
posted by Moonpie at 4:22 PM
9 Comments:
How ironic that the most beautiful building is the prison. (It actually looks like Nottingham Castle SHOULD look).
Apart from Robin Hood, we can't really top Elephant Man. You have the Humperdink curse, but what's worse, we have Alvin Stardust and Paper Lace.
6:59 PM
Hmm. I didn't know John Merrick hailed from Leicester. I took a ferry from Oostende to Dover, the same journey as JM took and all the way into Waterloo. Couldn't get him off my mind!
And then, I didn't know how or why I knew even that much about John Merrick.
Hmm.
I like how you pieced things together with the prison. Made me laugh out loud!
-g+bb
9:20 PM
Hi Moonpie,
My mum lived in Leicester (which I always pronounced as a 3 syllable word as a child) in the 50s when she emigrated to the UK from Mauritius. I've been once (sometime in the early 70s) and have no recall of much of it.
The prison is actually quite interesting looking. Do they do tours, or is it still a working building?
Cheers,
AM
12:38 AM
Ian,
Robin Hood is a damn good one though and you have Sherwood forest of course. I really like Nottingham castle, I have pictures of me and my brother next to the Robin Statue as kids, I remember it really captured my imagination, with all the Robin Hood stories, it's rather magical. Alvin Stardust and Paperlace though, ouch! You reminded me about Showaddywaddy, everyone I know has some Showaddywaddy connection, my Mum worked with one of them. Black Widow is another Leicester band, not all that well known but they are really good, there song 'Come to the Sabbat' is a classic, hilarious but a classic.
Gina,
John Merrick is one of those characters that just seems to resonate with people, it's wierd how he almost has mythological status. Maybe it's the moral of the story that sticks. Have you seen the David Lynch film, it's very good, I watched it years ago and it really stuck with me, needless to say to it is extremely sad. Nice to hear you've encountered the spirit of Merrick on your travels.
Anne-Marie,
Cool your Mum lived here, what a small world it is. That is one thing that Leicester does have going for it, it's one of the most multi-ethnic citys in the UK. People from all over the world have been settling here for years and we now have an extremely rich and diverse community. Ooooh and so much great food!
The prison is still a working one so hopefully I won't be seeing the inside of it in the near future!
1:27 PM
Hi!
Thanks for your summer wishes! I won't really have a holiday for most of it as I have to finalize the thesis by the autumn. But I can enjoy the concerts with less stress!
Hm, Looking at the postcard I was about to say that it seems like wherever you go in England you'll find a castle. But then of course I read that it's not a real castle but a prison. Anyway, they did the exact same thing in my city, Oulu, in the 60s and 70s. They tore down all the beautiful old wooden buildings in the city center and built ugly cement blocks instead. Social realism, bah. No doubt they figured it reflects the modern age and technological and economical advance.
2:48 PM
Maria,
In a way I think they do reflect the modern age being ugly and all!
It's all very sad, a real pity people don't know what they have before it all gone.
In the words of the Kinks;
'We are the Sherlock Holmes English-speaking Vernacular.
God save Fu Manchu, Moriarty and Dracula.
We are the Office Block Persecution Affinity.
God save little shops, china cups, and virginity.
We are the Skyscraper Condemnation Affiliates.
God save Tudor houses, antique tables, and billiards.
Preserving the old ways from being abused.
Protecting the new ways, for me and for you.
What more can we do?
God save the village green!
10:15 AM
yes, I have seen David Lynch's the Elephant Man. And it was John Hurt beneath. He won the Oscar.
I think another historical figure Lynch would be interested in is that jumbo rabbit up around Newcastle. I heard he's snuck into Tescos! And is heading now to Sanisburys. At least he's out of the garden. Seems he's proving everybody to be a poor shot.
-g+bb
4:38 PM
Hi Gina
Thanks for the update, I've been following the Geordie were-rabbit story, just saw the wallace and gromit film too. I keep seeing rabbits at the back of our flat, I think a family has moved in across the river, no giant ones just yet though. I'll throw them some of my moon-grown carrots when they've grown, see if that'll bring them along. I've started sowing seeds but nothing has come up just yet, I was going to do some singing to them but I'm not sure what they'd like, do you think Dylan? I think so. I have a week and a half off work as of tonight, which is rather nice, so I've got some time to spend down the allotment and with my seedlings, singing.
Glad you like the moon phase thingy, I'm enjoying it. it's suppose to make it's calculations from the clock on your computer, so where ever you view it, it should be correct for you. It says 99% full here tonight. I had trouble getting it to appear at first but I went back and shortened the lines in the text link, so they were the same length as the ones already on the template. It was just a lucky guess but it seemed to work.
10:48 PM
Happy Easter Moonpie!
Happy Spring!!!
3:29 AM
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